Tag - data breach

Even though her degree is in Sociology, which technically has nothing to do with writing, all her previous jobs implied working for websites, taking care of content and writing articles.
By the way, if you’re interested in studying abroad, feel free to ask her a few pointers, because for about two years and a half, she learned almost everything there is to know about international studies.

The media has always abounded in online privacy news, especially in the recent months. This last week has been quite special and we had witnessed both good and bad (although more bad than good) news. Looking at all of them closely, you can’t help but become utterly confused about how you should look upon technology these days.

Apart from the big and worrisome news regarding the end of net neutrality, several other cyber security-related things have happened. Let’s start with the most recent ones that also happen to be stories.

Mozilla to warn users about dangerous websites

Mozilla Firefox has announced that it will release a new useful feature that will warn users if they visit a website that suffered a data breach. This is part of a collaboration with “Have I Been Pwned” website that helps you check if your data has been hacked based on your email credentials. Now, this is useful stuff! However, the option won’t stop you from accessing the website, it’s just an informational procedure.

Even though her degree is in Sociology, which technically has nothing to do with writing, all her previous jobs implied working for websites, taking care of content and writing articles.
By the way, if you’re interested in studying abroad, feel free to ask her a few pointers, because for about two years and a half, she learned almost everything there is to know about international studies.

You may have been the victim of a data breach or online hack. Or you may have just heard about the bad things a risky situation such as identity theft can cause to someone. But do you know exactly what a hacker can do with your personal and financial information?

Hackers operate in different ways, but the end result is mainly the same: they would steal your information and use it in their benefit. Surprisingly enough, they are not always interested in making money; some are just so ambitious that they just want to prove a point, such as how vulnerable the online system of a big company is.

Regardless of the reasons that lie behind their actions, it’s time that you find out the possible risks you’re exposed to when a mass data breach (such as the most recent and much talked about Equifax case) occurs.

First, here is the big picture: online fraud cases similar to Equifax are the most dangerous because they would reveal the most important of your private information: social security number along with financial information (credit and debit card details, amount of your salary, etc.), plus personal information like birth date and home address. These are like wholesale candy for hackers and this information combined would make it all easier to commit frauds.

Here is what a hacker can do with your personal details such as social security number, e-mail address and/or phone number:

Apply for a loan or credit card

With your social security number, a hacker can open a bank account or apply for a loan in your name. As you may guess, the moment the loan needs to be repaid, the hacker will simply consider it’s not his/her duty to do that, so you’ll start receiving calls from the bank, since your name and personal details are linked to the loan or bank account.

A professional wordsmith, Corina has improved her writing skills through extensive experiences in journalism, advertising and marketing. Curious by nature, she enjoys learning foreign languages and discovering everything, as well as everyone around her.

Now, the (extremely, we would say) sensitive personal details relating to almost 200 million US citizens have been accidentally exposed by a marketing firm contracted by the Republican National Committee. According to bbc.com, the 1.1 terabytes of data includes birth dates, home addresses, telephone numbers and political views of nearly 62% of the entire US population.

What’s worse, the data was available on a publicly accessible Amazon cloud server. Thus, absolutely anyone with the link could access the data.